Did you know that the water that you drink, bathe and swim in could be really pretty old? That might sound kind of strange, but it's actually pretty cool. In fact, some of that water may be as old as the dinosaurs! If you look at water it will all look the same. That makes it impossible to tell how old the water that you're drinking is. So how does this water last so long, and why is it important? Water lasts so long because of what is called the water cycle. A cycle occurs when something moves through steps repeatedly. This is what happens during the water cycle; water goes through a series of steps that it repeats over and over again.
The water cycle happens because the earth has a limited amount of water. Water is key to human, plant and animal life on earth. Without it, a person would die within several days! That makes it very important that there is enough around. In order for there to be enough water for everyone and all of the things that need it, water must be recycled. This cycle has four basic parts, or you can call them steps. These steps are evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection. These are pretty big words, but they are important parts of the water cycle's process. These steps will also help you understand what the water cycle is and how it works.
The first of these steps is evaporation. This is when the water in the ocean and rivers, plants, and on the ground turn into water vapors. The sun causes this to happen by heating up the water and turning it into steam and then water vapors. These vapors are invisible, so you can't see them. The vapors rise up into the air where the next step in the water cycle begins.
Condensation is the second step. This occurs when the vapors rise into the air and the cold causes them to condense. The condensed vapors turn into the clouds that you see in the sky. Condensation continues until droplets of water begin to form. These are very small droplets of water that begin to collect in the clouds. When they become too heavy, the clouds are no longer able to hold these droplets of water, and they fall back to the earth. This is known as precipitation. It is often in the form of rain drops. Sometimes precipitation may fall to the earth as snow or hail.
Precipitation leads to the collection process. The ground and bodies of water collect the rain and snow when it falls to the earth. A puddle of water is an example of a collection of water on the ground. Rivers, oceans, and streams also collect rain. In fact, the world's oceans hold most of the water on Earth. When water collects on the ground, the earth eventually absorbs it. When this happens, the earth stores some of it. Plants use this stored water, and in some cases people may also locate and use it. Water collected on the ground will eventually make its way toward rivers, streams, and eventually the ocean. When the sun comes out, the process begins once again as it heats up the water and starts the evaporation process.
The water cycle continues over and over again all over the world. It is the way that nature has recycled water since the beginning of time. Because of the way that the water cycle works, the water that you and your family drinks may be older than you, your parents and even your grandparents. It is important because it keeps the water in motion so that there is always water available.
To read up on information about the water cycle, please read the following links.
Ductless Heating and Air Conditioning Units
ductless heat and air conditioning ~ ductless air conditioning and heating units ~ wall mounted air conditioning units ~ heat and air conditioning units ~ cost of ductless air conditioning systems ~ window air conditioning units